Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Biodynamic Gardening and Composting

Biodynamic gardening is a work in progress! There is so much to learn. We are starting off with a compost pile, built according to biodynamic principals. Mommy took a workshop at Steiner College and got to see some large compost piles in action at Raphael Garden.

At home, we created our own pile with layers of straw, manure, greens, and lime/ash. Soon, we will add the biodynamic preparations to it.

Straw

Manure

Greens

Lime/Ash

The kids helped shovel, cut and cover the pile.

Once or twice per week, we check and record the temperature using a really long thermometer. We are hoping that the pile will get to around 130 degrees F.

Signs of decomposition! Mushrooms, bugs, earthworms....

We drew about composting in our Main Lesson Books, showing how we layered the pile, the stages of decomposition, and the biodynamic preparations.

Next, we learned about the Zodiac and drew a wheel showing days that are good for planting and harvesting.

The Astro-Calendar is helping us learn more about when to sow and harvest.

Oh your compost pile is so much tidier than mine (which is more of a crow/blue jay feeding station). I bought my husband a Biodynamic calendar last year and it just turned into an excuse to avoid the garden--"Oops, can't plant the greens today; it's a 'root' day."

Way cool! We've composted for years, nothing so fancy as yours, just layering vegetal kitchen waste, greens (grass clippings from the neighbors) and browns (mostly oak leaves). In time it makes great rich dirt. The raccoons turn our pile here, searching for fruit scraps.

I can tell you from personal experience how good compost is for plantings--when we lived in Florida, 2 hurricanes in 3 weeks covered our yard in brackish water. Power was out, no rinsing the salts away; stores were closed, no buying dirt to prop up the blown-down plants. We used up our large compost pile. Within a few weeks, the plants were flourishing and there were blooms in places we'd never seen them.